On Monday, April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Main Hall theater, please join President Richard Guarasci for “An Evening with Gov. George Pataki,” this year’s Presidential Economic Symposium. Pataki, the 53rd governor of New York, served from 1995 through 2006. He had previously served as Peekskill, N.Y. mayor and, successively, as a member of the New York State Assembly and State Senate. According to a New York Times editorial published on his final day in office, Pataki “earned his badge as an environmental governor by protecting wilderness, adding riverside parks, creating coalitions for cleaner air and alternative fuels and … the fulfillment of his pledge to add one million acres of land to the public estate.”

Friday, April 18, 2014FORMER GOV. GEORGE PATAKI TO APPEAR AT WAGNER COLLEGE ON APRIL 28
by TOM WROBLESKI

He was popular here as New York’s chief executive.

Now former Gov. George Pataki returns to Staten Island for an academic pursuit.

The former Republican governor will appear at Wagner College on April 28 as part of the college’s symposium series, “The 2014 Presidential Economic Summit.”

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the college’s Main Hall Theatre. It is free and open to the public.

Wagner College President Richard Guarasci said that Pataki will speak about the challenges faced by the state in the wake of the global financial crisis.

“The nation and the state have undergone a lot of fiscal duress,” he said. “We’ll be looking at the fiscal issues that shape the economy and society.”

He said Pataki would also touch on environmental reform.

Pataki, the state’s 53rd governor, served three terms and was a big vote-getter on the Island. During his last campaign in 2002, he got 70 percent of the Island vote.

Since leaving office, Pataki has founded the Pataki-Cahill Group consulting firm, and also joined the Chadbourne and Park LLP law firm.

The former governor is the latest in a line of high-profile names who have appeared at the Wagner symposium.

Also sharing their insights have been cable television financial reporter Maria Bartiromo; Richard Grasso, former head of the New York Stock Exchange; Home Depot founder Kenneth Langone, and Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric.